


Falling

by lahela



Series: I Want Your Uncle [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hookfire - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-20
Updated: 2013-07-20
Packaged: 2017-12-20 19:38:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/891065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lahela/pseuds/lahela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baelfire Gold finally meets Killian Jones for the first time</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> I am dedicating this part of the series to an awesome Hookfire fan, [NeverlandBae](http://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverlandBae/profile). Thank you for the inspiration, for being a good friend, our partner in crime, an awesome RP tutor, for spreading Hookfire love with us and for just being you. I love you and I really hope this brightens your day. ♥
> 
> Thanks so much to Disterra for being my official beta for this series (and all my fics, basically). I love you too! :D

It happened so fast Baelfire didn’t have time to react. The next thing he knew, he was losing control of his bike and being thrown off. After the initial shock, he sits up and examines his body for any injuries. There seems to be none except a nasty scrape at his arm. He tries to get up to retrieve his bike, which skidded a few meters away from him, but falls back down when he feels pain shoot up from his left leg. As it would seem, he also sprained his ankle.

He tried several times to get up and walk but his ankle would only let him take a few steps before he was once again seated on the ground biting back tears from the pain. At this rate, it would take him forever to walk home, much less bike.  And it was getting dark and cold. Much to his chagrin, he had no choice but to call his papa. He knew this would worry him deeply and it might even earn him a scolding but it was better than just letting himself get stuck in the forest whole night.

He palms his pants for his phone and pulls it out of his pocket. With shaky hands, he scrolls through his contacts list and finds “Papa”.  He squints at the keypad which was a bit hard to see in the dark and presses the “call” button and puts it to his ears.

After several rings, he picks up.

“Papa it’s me, Bae,” he blurts out, “don’t panic, I am okay. I just fell off my bike and I think I sprained my ankle. I am in the forest trail where I always go biking. I need you to pick me up because my bike is broken and I can’t walk.”

Baelfire pauses to hear what his father has to say but he was only met with silence on the other end.

“Papa?”

“Bae?” A deep voice responds on the other end of the line that clearly was not his papa’s. “Bae, is that you?” The voice asks.

“Uh…” Bae takes the phone away from his ear to check at the screen and almost froze in shock. The name “Mr.Jones” flashed at him.

“Oh shit,”Baelfire cursed. He must’ve been shaking so badly that he scrolled at the wrong name. For a moment there he forgot that he had Mr.Jones’ number and that his papa’s name was right next to it on his contact’s list.

“Hello?” Mr. Jones calls out to him sounding worried.

“Mr.Jones… I’m sorry, I meant to call my—” Baelfire tried to explain but he was cut off.

“I know. it’s alright, I’m on the road right now. I can come get you. Where are you, exactly?”

Baelfire relates his exact location and hangs up. He buries his face in his palms from utter embarrassment. Mr. Jones is coming to get him any minute now and well, as much as he had wanted to meet the man, Mr. Jones acting as his knight and shining armor wasn’t exactly what he had in mind for an ideal first meeting. And not to mention the state he was in – he probably looked pathetic.

He brushes off some dirt from his hair and clothes and very gently does the same to the bleeding gash at his left arm in an attempt to not look too distressed.

Soon the night sky turned completely pitch black and the stars came out. It was a beautiful sight. One that Baelfire would sure enjoy if he wasn’t distracted by his current predicament. He pulls the lower part of his sleeves around his hands and brings his knees to his chest. It was getting chilly. So he huddles near a rock by the trail side, trying to keep as much warmth to his body as he could.

For lack of anything else to do, he thinks of the man coming to save him. He has never seen Mr. Jones so he wonders what he looks like.  Many faces came to mind, mostly of some other people’s uncles he met. Kind uncles were usually the single ones, so he probably was medium built; maybe tall; he could be blond like Wendy; and maybe he had glasses, why not? Baelfire couldn’t really picture what Mr. Jones’ eyes looked like; all he could guess was they probably looked nice and kind…

The crunching of gravel broke Baelfire’s train of thought.  Someone was coming. He sees a beam of light from a flashlight not far below the trail. Relief washes over him. He sits up straight.

The figure finally gets close to him but with the light against him he couldn’t make out his face.

“Mr. Jones?” Baelfire asked.

“Aye,” the man says as he squats beside Bae on the ground. “It’s me. Are you alright?”

It does sound like him. It’s the same accent. In spite of himself, Baelfire smiled. “Thank you so much for coming. And I’m really sorry.”

“Bae,” Killian says and touches a gloved hand to Baelfire’s face which catches the boy by surprise. “I’m glad you called.”

The light from the flashlight illuminated the side of Killian’s face as he drew near to speak. Baelfire catches his breath at what he sees. That has got to be one of the most handsome faces he has ever seen. All of a sudden, he feels warmth rise to his cheeks and his heart starts hammering in his chest. He was so close that he could feel the man’s breath on his face.

“Can you walk?” Killian asked.

“I tried. But my ankle hurts. I think I sprained it. I can try again, I guess,” even if he knows the chances are slim, he says it anyway. He’d rather fall again from trying than appear too helpless in Mr. Jones’ eyes. But the man wouldn’t have any of it. He grips Baelfire’s shoulders as if to reassure him.

“No need. I think I can carry you.”

 _Carry me?!_ Baelfire thought in alarm. If his face hadn’t been steaming red, it probably was now. So much for not appearing helpless… he wanted to protest but he knew that he had no choice at the matter.

“Oh-- okay…” he said hesitantly.

“All right. Hold this.” Killian hands Baelfire the flashlight and proceeds to slip his arms underneath the boy’s body. “Hold on,” he says and heaves Baelfire off the ground slowly.

Baelfire loops his right arm around Killian both for support and for something to grab as he winces in pain from his ankle.

“Sorry,” Killian apologizes.

“No problem,”Bae replies. But the pain doesn’t go away so he does what seems like the most logical thing to do at that moment: lean his head on the man’s shoulder and bite his lip to keep himself from groaning. With his nose stuck to the man’s leather jacket, he pleasantly notes that the man smells nice. 

Killian had his truck waiting at the foot of the trail. He gently deposits Bae on the passenger seat in front before leaving again to get his bike. Not long after, he returns and hoists the bike onto the back of his pick up and joins Bae inside. He catches his breath at the wheel.

Baelfire could see the man much clearer now under the warm glow of the car light and it hardly muted his initial impression. Mr. Jones looked even more attractive. He was aware he was staring but he couldn’t take his eyes off.

“We have to get you to the hospital,” Killian says as he looks over Baelfire, “we have to have a doctor take a look at your leg.”

Until now Baelfire still can’t believe this is happening. He was speechless and could only nod his head in agreement. Killian gives him a warm smile.

“Alright then,” he says and reaches over Baelfire to buckle his seatbelt, unintentionally brushing his hair up against Bae’s lips as he did. Baelfire closes his eyes as he took in the scent of the man’s shampoo. That smelled nice too.

They immediately got a doctor to see Bae when they arrived at the hospital. He was placed in a wheelchair and brought to an orthopedist who got his sprained ankle bandaged and his scratch patched up.

When he was all done, the doctor wheeled him out of his office to the lobby where Mr. Jones had been asked to wait. At that time, the lobby was nearly empty and there was no Mr. Jones in sight. Baelfire felt his heart sink.

“Maybe he's just outside.” Baelfire tells the doctor. To his surprise, its his papa who he sees coming through the door, his expression worried.

“Bae!” Mr. Gold calls out the moment he sees his son, “what happened?”

Baelfire was happy to see his papa come for him but he couldn’t bring himself to smile knowing that Mr. Jones could’ve left without even saying goodbye. His father took his sad expression as a bad sign.

“Bae, are you alright?” Mr. Gold asked his son.

“He’s fine, Mr. Gold. He just needs to rest.” The doctor reassures him, “Let him take this medicine for the pain.”

Mr. Gold accepts the medicine, his eyes still fixed at his son in the wheelchair.  

“I’m fine papa,” Bae says in response to his father's still evident worry, “I am just tired and I want to go home.”

Mr. Gold wanted to ask more questions but decided against it.

“Alright,” he says, “we can talk at home.” He pockets the medicine and tells Bae to wait. “I’ll just get the car,” and hobbles out the glass door.

Meanwhile a gloomy cloud descends upon Baelfire. He didn’t expect Mr. Jones would just run off like that. There were things he wanted to say and ask. Could it be he was just aching to get rid of him? Suddenly he felt embarrassed and stupid again for his mistake. He wipes the first traces of tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He can’t cry - not here. He suppresses a sniff when he hears someone’s heels clatter on the marble floor towards his direction.

“Baelfire?”

Baelfire looks up to find a nurse by his side. “Yes?”

“This is for you,” she hands him a folded paper.

“What’s this?” Baelfire asks with a tiny sniff.

“It’s a letter. He asked me to give it to you.”

“HIm?”

“Your uncle.” 

Bae's eyes grew wide with surprise and takes the folded paper gingerly in his fingers.  “Thank you,” he says, feeling light headed.

When the nurse leaves he opens the letter and reads…


End file.
